Leadership in a democratic school: a case study examining the perceptions and aspirations of an educational community

ABSTRACT

In this case study, we aim to understand the leadership practices in a two-site rural school (schools in rural areas located on two or more sites) in the province of Valencia (Spain), by examining the perceptions and aspirations of the educational community. Results reveal two points of view in perceptions of leadership in the school: on one hand community members hold a classic, traditional view of leadership; on the other hand, they recognize that leadership is opening up to all the groups in the educational community, which inspires positive attitudes to taking part in leadership processes. The types of leaders identified in the school, educational community participation in decision making, and teamwork are some of the aspects that advance the development of a more distributed form of leadership. However, resistance to change by some families has hindered the community’s aspirations to distributed leadership. There is therefore a need to revisit the way this concept and its characteristics are constructed, and to pool ideas to decide what direction the community wants to take in the future. Additionally, one way to advance the school’s democratic, distributed leadership model is to continue working on the relationships between sections of the educational community through cooperative organization in the school.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alejandra López-Roca

Alejandra López-Roca holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education and a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Universidad Jaume I of Castellón, Avda. de Vicente Sos Baynat, s/n. CP. 12071, Spain. Email: [email protected]. She currently collaborates with the research group Mejora Educativa y Ciudadanía Crítica (MEICRI) (Educational Improvement and Critical Citizenship) at Universitat Jaume I (http://meicri.uji.es/).

Joan Andrés Traver-Martí

Joan Andrés Traver-Martí graduated in Philosophy and Education Sciences, holds a PhD in Education, and is associate professor of Theory and History of Education at Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Avda. de Vicente Sos Baynat, s/n. CP. 12071, Spain. Email: [email protected]. His research interests include educational innovation, cooperative learning, intercultural and inclusive learning, and community development, subjects on which he has published articles and given presentations. His current research lines are education in values and attitudes, cooperative learning, the intercultural and inclusive school, and community participation and development. He is a member of the research group Mejora Educativa y Ciudadanía Crítica (MEICRI) (Educational Improvement and Critical Citizenship) and the Laboratoire international sur l’inclusion scolaire (LISIS) (http://www.lisis.ch/).